Scared of Spiders

Prologue

“I need control of this city.” The sibilant words hissed in the gloom of the cavernous basement made the ranks of bowed heads shiver.

“Tell us what we must do, Master,” asked a man kneeling directly before the cloaked figure.

“The pack alpha of this city and his beta must die. With them gone, the rest will follow. But are you strong enough to prevail, my furry children?”

Brown eyes wild with fanaticism, rose to stare at the darkness within the cowl. “Their leader is old. I will force him to challenge me, and when I defeat him and gain control of the pack, I shall hand the reins of leadership over to you, Master.”

“Excellent. Do not disappoint me.” The unspoken words ‘or else…’ hung in the damp air. The figure in the heavy, hooded robe spun and walked to a table laden with esoteric items-skulls, crucibles, stoppered bottles-but from the panoply of objects available, he came back with a scrap of cloth. The Master dangled the fabric before the nose of his minion. “Mark this scent well, for I seek the descendent of the one who once wore this. The portents all point to her residing hereabouts. I must have her. Find the girl, but do not harm her. She is mine.” The possessive words hung in the air, tainted with cold cruelty.

His faithful follower breathed deep of the scent, and at his growled urging, one by one, the members of the Master’s accumulated army crept forward to inhale and mark the scent.

Only once the last minion had returned to his kneeling position did the Master address them again. “Go forth, my children. Cause havoc. Take lives. Kill the leaders of the pack, but most important of all,” he said, his voice low, yet resonating loudly within the minds of his followers, “find the girl.”

Growls erupted, and clothing flew as the ranks of kneeling men, many still boys, let their beasts-wolves with mad eyes-burst through. They raced from the underground chamber and fled to the city streets, their eerie howls rising in the night sky and announcing to all, the Master had arrived.

And he’d brought death with him.